ENGIE and Axium Secure 50-year Comprehensive Energy Management Contract with The Ohio State University

HOUSTON, TEXAS and NEW YORK, NEW YORK and MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Apr 7, 2017) - ENGIE North America Inc. and Axium Infrastructure US have won a 50-year concession valued at $1.165 billion USD to address The Ohio State University's energy sustainability goals for its 485-building campus in Columbus, Ohio, one of the largest university campuses in the United States. Following detailed reviews by groups composed of students, faculty, and staff who identified the ENGIE-Axium proposal as the top bid, the university's Board of Trustees approved the contract award on April 7, culminating a more than two-year-long process in which 40 interested parties initially participated.

Having worked as business partners in Canada for the past five years managing a portfolio of large-scale wind and solar installations totaling 680 MW, ENGIE and Axium are long-term operators and investors. Founded in 1870, Ohio State enrolls nearly 60,000 students on its Columbus campus, and welcomes approximately 100,000 people every weekday during the academic year.

« We're excited for the opportunity to deploy our experience in energy efficiency, production, procurement, and commodity risk management to support Ohio State in its quest to become an international leader in sustainability while providing new resources to enhance its academic mission,» said Frank Demaille, CEO of ENGIE North America. «With innovation, performance, and safety underpinning all of our endeavors, we are eager to work with the Ohio State utility team and with faculty, staff, and students on new energy research and technology commercialization through a state-of-the-art Energy Advancement and Innovation Center that we will build. »

« Axium is thrilled to join forces with ENGIE to deliver world class energy services to Ohio State, and to advance the visionary sustainability objectives put forward by the Ohio State community, » said Thierry Vandal, President of Axium Infrastructure US.

Operation and optimization of the university's utility system, including Energy Conservation Management Services leveraging the existing system and development of future capital improvement projects to improve the university's energy efficiency by 25% within 10 years.

Construction of a new Energy Advancement and Innovation Center for energy research and commercialization. The Center would create a living laboratory where faculty, students, alumni, entrepreneurs, industry experts, and ENGIE researchers can collaborate on next-generation technologies and services in areas such as smart energy systems, renewable energy, and green mobility. The Center will be ENGIE's first research facility in North America, with connectivity across ENGIE's worldwide research and industry network.

"This partnership positions us as an international leader in energy and sustainability and further strengthens Ohio State as a national flagship public research university," said Ohio State President Michael V. Drake.

"We are entering a relationship with Ohio State that will span generations," Demaille concluded. "ENGIE and Axium look forward to uniting our ambitions with the university and surrounding community to build a cleaner, more efficient, and more innovative energy future in the years to come."

About ENGIE and Axium

ENGIE manages a range of energy businesses in the United States and Canada, including electricity generation and cogeneration, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) distribution and sales, retail energy sales, and comprehensive services to help customers run their facilities more efficiently and optimize energy use and expense. Nearly 100 percent of the company's power generation portfolio produces no carbon emissions or very few. Globally, the company is present in 70 countries and employs 153,090 people, including 1,000 researchers in 11 R&D centers. For more information, please visit www.engie-na.com, @ENGIENorthAm, and www.engie.com.

Axium is a long-term, buy-and-hold infrastructure investment firm with over $1.5 billion in assets under management, as well as approximately $1 billion in managed co-investments. Axium currently holds a diversified portfolio of power and energy, transportation, and social infrastructure assets, including substantial investments in renewable energy to date, with interests in over 2.5 GW of wind, solar and hydroelectric power generation across North America.